Connecting devices of this type are used especially for transmitting electricity and/or light and/or signals between moveable connecting points which are contained in the steering wheel and are fixed in the area of the steering column. Via the connecting points of the connecting device, for example, an airbag, a steering wheel heater, a switching device, etc., can be supplied with power and/or signals for the purpose of initiating the function. A connecting device is known from practical experience, which consists of a stator part and a rotor part, is accommodated in the stator part, in which a cavity is formed between the stator part and the rotor part for the purpose of accommodating the line which in a reversing loop is conducted into the cavity. This connecting device is disadvantageous in that especially the reversing loop creates interfering noises during operation.
European patent EP 1 183 167 B1 discloses a device for transmitting energy between two ends with at least one flexible line comprised of several conductors, which are accommodated in windings within the annular cavity of a housing surrounding the longitudinal axis of said cavity concentrically, in which one end of the flexible line is fixed at a stator and the other end of the line at a rotor, which can be rotated around the longitudinal axis of the housing opposite the stator part. The flexible line with its two wide sides can be taken up via a U-shaped turning section with at least one winding onto the axially aligned inner wall and spaced apart, conversely said line can be taken up with at least a second winding onto the outer wall of the housing, which also is axially aligned, and with its two narrow sides can be held between the radially aligned base and the radially aligned cover wall of the housing.
The stator consists of a stator base comprised of the outer wall and a first base area, and a stator top comprised of a first cover wall area. The rotor comprises a rotor base with inner wall and a second base area, as well as a second rotor top comprised of a second cover wall area. The cover wall areas and the base areas are so arranged that, within the system of the flexible line at the inner wall said areas only are part of the rotor, and within the system of the flexible line at the inner wall said areas only are part of the stator. This is achieved by the two-part design both of the cover wall areas and the base areas, and thus by the respective two-part design of the stator and the rotor.